Medicus, Vol. 20 No. 2_Alergije, 2011.
Review article
Clinical and Epidemiological Characteristics of Childhood Emergencies
Adnan Aljukić
; Javna zdravstvena ustanova Dom zdravlja Lukavac
Abstract
Urgent medical conditions or emergencies are generally those conditions directly endangering patient’s physical integrity and requiring immediate medical intervention. Aim: To examine the frequency of emergencies in children during a one-year periods at the Emergency Medical Services in Lukavac. Methods: A retrospective analysis of the medical documentation for the period from 1 Jan 2005 to 31 Dec 2005. Results: The retrospective analysis of the medical documentation has revealed that urgent conditions were recorded in 596 of 4761 examined children, aged 0 to 14 years, examined at the Emergency Medical Services in Lukavac in the period from 1 Jan 2005 to 31 Dec 2005. The frequency for both sexes was 1:7.98, with an average prevalence of 125 in 1000 examined children. The extremely high prevalence of urgent conditions was recorded in school children, i.e. 460/1000 of examined children. Out of 596 children with urgent conditions examined at the Emergency Medical Services in Lukavac, 363/596 (60.9%) were boys, and 233/596 (39.1%) were girls, which represents a statistically significant difference (2 = 56.71; P < 0.0001). The highest number of children with urgent conditions examined at the Emergency Medical Services in Lukavac was recorded in April (12.2%), and the lowest number in January (4.0%). Children with urgent conditions mostly came from complete families (61.9%). A difference in the family status was statistically significant (2 = 22.7; P < 0.0001). The percentage of families with regular income was 42.4%, and a difference in the occurrence of urgent conditions with regard to family income was statistically significant (2 = 27.1; P < 0.0001). Urgent conditions were mostly caused by respiratory diseases (33.1%). The most frequently applied initial treatment was symptomatic. Conclusion: The analysis of clinical and epidemiological characteristics of urgent childhood conditions recorded at the Emergency Medical Services in Lukavac reveals that they are caused by health problems in children of a particular age. Consequently, appropriate health protection programs, which would include prevention and treatment of urgent conditions, should be designed.
Keywords
urgent conditions; childhood; clinical and epidemiological characteristics; Emergency Medical Services in Lukavac
Hrčak ID:
81149
URI
Publication date:
19.12.2011.
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